


The Watsons Have a Domestic

by wellthengameover



Series: Sherlock Meta [7]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow, Meta, Miscommunication, Other, Sherlock Meta, TJLC | The Johnlock Conspiracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:00:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5226128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthengameover/pseuds/wellthengameover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Watsons Have A Domestic is quite possibly the climax of the whole five-season story. The climax comes earlier than people generally think; it’s the point where everything after (which usually includes all the exciting action) has been “set” on the track. It’s the point-of-no-return. And doesn’t that sound like “Your way; always your way?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sherlock and John

I think the Watsons Have A Domestic is quite possibly the climax of the whole five-season story. The climax comes earlier than people generally think; it’s the point where everything after (which usually includes all the exciting action) has been “set” on the track. It’s the point-of-no-return. And doesn’t that sound like “Your way; always your way?” I think it does. 

I’m not a romantic person; I don’t much like romantic stories because I _almost never believe them_. Sometimes I even wonder if writing love is something we can even _do_ because I could count the number of romance stories I actually buy on one hand. I’m always like “Yeah, I get that they care about each other; I get that they’re sexually attracted to each other, but _love?_ Eh. I’m not seeing it.” And before this scene, that’s how I felt about Johnlock. Here’s why:

John and Sherlock had been through a lot of bad stuff together, but **it had all been stuff that came from outside of their relationship** and pushed them together. Being strapped to a bomb vest is horrible, but o _f course_ they came out of it closer because they had a common enemy. “There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” It’s what John says in ASiP:

> JOHN: People don’t _have_ arch-enemies.  
>  SHERLOCK: I’m sorry?  
> JOHN: In real life. **There _are_ no arch-enemies in real life.** Doesn’t happen.  
>  SHERLOCK: Doesn’t it? Sounds a bit dull.  
> JOHN: So who did I meet?  
> SHERLOCK: What do real people have, then, in their ‘real lives’?  
> JOHN: Friends; people they know; people they like; people they don’t like. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

Well, this is true. People don’t have arch-enemies in real life. So the bad stuff that happens to you, in general, you do to yourself and the people you care about most do to you. But that hadn’t happened between Sherlock and John: even Reichenbach was easy to blame on Jim. The story implied that Sherlock and John would be friends forever, but - I’m a very skeptical person - I said “How do we know? It hasn’t been tested in the way real relationships are tested.” Every time they started to have a terrible argument, the plot happened (John got strapped to a bomb vest, Sherlock jumped off a roof, etc.). Obviously, it had to be written like that _because_ they couldn’t have that argument yet, but until they did, I felt like it _could_ have been a superficial relationship. 

**When the crappy stuff came from inside their relationship - from emotion and bitterness and stuff they did to each other deliberately; the stuff that tears apart _real_ relationships - and pushed them apart but they still stayed together, then it was real. And that’s exactly what happens in the Watsons Have A Domestic. ** Sherlock says all the things John is most afraid of about himself - crosses what was definitely an unspoken boundary of Things We Do Not Talk About - and they’re both devastated, but it doesn’t break their relationship. If anything, it just makes them love each other _more_ : season three ends with Sherlock and John as far apart as they’ve ever been but also more in love than they’ve ever been, and I think a lot of both comes from this scene.

Now, of course, Sherlock says all John’s worst fears because he’s forced to because of the situation with Mary, but - to me - it’s a vastly different situation from Reichenbach. It’s pretty clear Sherlock didn’t really realize how much his death would hurt John because he says this in TEH waiter reveal:

> SHERLOCK _(looking down nervously)_ : Okay, John, I’m suddenly realizing I probably owe you some sort of an apology.

So Sherlock probably didn’t fully realize faking his own death would even hurt John enough to require an apology until he saw John again. But I think it’s quite clear in the Watsons Have A Domestic that Sherlock knows just how much he’s hurting John. This is when he says the “because” of “Because… you chose her:”

He can’t even look at John. To me, this is Sherlock deciding whether or not he can really go through with it, with saying this to John. He does because he needs to, and he knows exactly how much it’s going to destroy John.

Unlike Reichenbach, he knows.

Obviously, Sherlock’s not hurting John because he likes it, but the fact that he’s doing it consciously - whatever the reason - puts a different sort of pressure on their relationship than Reichenbach did. While not a _worse_ hurt than Reichenbach, it’s a different, more complicated, more _realistic_ sort of hurt. It comes from inside their relationship. And they weather it; despite the fact that Sherlock just said all the worst things he could think of to John, John still says “Your way; always your way.” There’s a reason people have called that line John’s last vow. 

I always see stuff about how “Sherlock made John a vow; it’s time for John to do the same” or “At the wedding, Sherlock told John he’d always be there for him; John needs to say that too.”

But John has.

There’s a similarity here between “Your way, always your way” and “Nobody could be that clever” / “You could,” but this is better. This is more. _We_ know that the corollary to “You could [be that clever]” is “And even if you weren’t, I wouldn’t care,” but Sherlock doesn’t know that. John doesn’t say that. “You could” is “I believe in you unwaveringly because I know that you’re right, that you’re smart. I’m on your side because you’re always right.”

“Your way, always your way” is “I’m on your side, even when you’re wrong.”

John’s angry when he says this. He doesn’t want to do what Sherlock keeps telling him to do. He doesn’t like Sherlock’s plan of listening to Mary. He doesn’t agree with it. He thinks it’s wrong.

This conversation is one of the worst places their relationship has ever been at, if not the worst, and John’s still siding with Sherlock. Not even siding with Sherlock over Mary, but just siding with Sherlock period. John wants to walk out; he wants to not side with either of them. But he’s going to back Sherlock’s play anyway, not because he thinks it’s right - he clearly doesn’t - but because it’s _Sherlock’s._

I can’t imagine how life-changing a declaration like that would be to Sherlock if he actually caught its significance (which he doesn’t, similar to how John doesn’t catch the significance of Sherlock’s vow at the wedding). 

Sherlock thinks people tolerate him because he’s useful. _Utility - how do I have utility?_ He thinks someone like Greg tolerates him, perhaps even likes him, but only because he’s useful. He’s useful to Greg because he solves crimes. He’s useful to Mycroft because he stops terrorists. He’s useful to John because he gives John danger. 

That means Sherlock can’t ever screw up, or the people he loves - but don’t love him, only find him useful - Greg, Mycroft, John, etc. - will leave. If he’s not always clever, John will leave. If he’s not always right, John will leave. If he’s not always exciting, John will leave.

“Your way, always your way” is a rather roundabout way of saying “I don’t give a damn about the cases, Sherlock; I care about _you.”_

Of course, I think to actually get Johnlock, The Johnlock Kiss, they’re will have to be a time when Sherlock is this scooped out, the way John is here, by John. Possibly both Sherlock and John have to be this scooped out at the same time, even. But this scene is definitely the path there. I think when they go to sit in their chairs, that was the point that Johnlock became a foregone conclusion. Which is what makes it the climax.

It takes John and Sherlock almost twenty seconds to sit down; it’s an incredibly long time to just watch someone walk across the room. It’s such a powerful moment. Mary is standing by Sherlock’s chair - wanting Sherlock’s place in John’s life ([and helpfully near a knife](http://just-sort-of-happened.tumblr.com/post/99577370205/baker-street-knife)) - and only leaves it after he comes to sit down - to take his place back. The music swells as Sherlock and John move to the chairs, but once Sherlock sits down, it tapers off into something much sweeter, telling us subconsciously that this is how it’s supposed to be. That was the moment John went “back to Baker Street.” (Interestingly, the only other time we see Sherlock and John both sit in their chairs in season three is the stag night.)

And then, of course, Mary comes to sit between them.

(Someone pointed out that in ACD, Mary Morstan started off as a client and became Watson’s wife; in BBC, Mary Morstan started off as John’s wife and became a client. Oh, Mofftisson, I see what you did there.)

> SHERLOCK: John – Magnussen is all that matters now. You can trust Mary. She saved my life.  
> JOHN _(quietly)_ : She shot you.  
> SHERLOCK: Er, mixed messages, I grant you. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/68754.html))

I think John thinks that Sherlock trusts (or mostly trusts) Mary. [John read the flash drive and has his own plan](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/97682234962/john-read-the-flash-drive) [without Sherlock](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/97647703062/sherlock-and-john-arent-plotting-together-against-mary), so he doesn’t trust Mary, but I think he thinks _Sherlock_ thinks they can trust Mary. Here’s why:

**[John thinks Sherlock has some kind of romantic feelings for Mary](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/75943455367/how-do-you-think-john-felt-when-sherlock-killed).** He thinks Sherlock was in love with Irene, so he thinks Sherlock’s into women that hurt him. He also makes several references to Sherlock and Mary being in a relationship:

In the hospital:

> JOHN: Oh, _you_ , Mrs Watson … you’re in big trouble.  
> MARY: Really? Why?  
> JOHN: His first word when he woke up?  
>  _(She shakes her head.)_  
>  JOHN: “Mary”! ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/68754.html))

In this scene:

> SHERLOCK: … Magnussen knows your secret, which is why you were going to kill him; and I assume you befriended Janine … in order to get close to him.  
> MARY: Oh – _you_ can talk!  
>  JOHN: Ohhh. _Look_ at you two. _You_ should have got married. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/68754.html))

This last one was definitely not a joking-around comment. He’s pissed. (Although, obviously, he’s just pissed in general right now, but we’ll come back to this.)

[When Sherlock says “Give my love to Mary” after he shoots CAM, this is John](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/75943455367/how-do-you-think-john-felt-when-sherlock-killed):

Some people have said that John’s thinking “You idiot, I know you didn’t do that for Mary,” but I don’t think so. I think it’s a “I can’t believe he did that for Mary _after she shot him_. God, he really must love her.” John’s shoulders drop; his face falls: he can’t believe it, but not in a good way. More like in a Sherlock-is-a-heterosexual-sociopath way.

Remember when John gave Sherlock Irene’s phone? The “I love you so much that it doesn’t matter that she was your exception, not me” moment?

It just happened again.

The heterosexual-sociopath thing is a really big reason I think John thinks Sherlock does trust Mary. [John believes - or chooses to believe - that Sherlock is a sociopath](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/73231634989/johnlock-and-the-idea-that-sherlock-is-a-sociopath), even though he knows deep down that Sherlock really isn’t. **He chooses to think that Sherlock and Mary have the same morals** **\- “Is everyone I’ve ever met a psychopath?” - and then so _of course_ Sherlock would be fine with Mary.** He didn’t die, so it doesn’t matter.

Sherlock and Mary talk about manipulating and using people you’re supposed to love (Sherlock as Janine’s boyfriend; Mary as John’s wife), and it’s _this_ moment that John compares them. Of course Sherlock wouldn’t have a problem with Mary’s lies to John - Sherlock did the same thing to Janine, right? Obviously, it’s not really the same and Sherlock and Mary aren’t the same at all, but I think if you’re in John’s head-space, here, it would be very easy to go there. What Mary did isn’t a big deal at all - if you’re a sociopath.

If you’re John, _all_ Sherlock’s behavior lately points to him being in love with Mary:

  1. Plans Mary’s wedding
  2. Is sad at the wedding and leaves early
  3. Then immediately revenge dates Mary’s best friend
  4. Doesn’t care that she shot him
  5. Doesn’t send her to jail for it
  6. Kills a man for her in front of witnesses
  7. Then immediately says “Give my love to Mary; tell her she’s safe now”
  8. More about that [here](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/75943455367/how-do-you-think-john-felt-when-sherlock-killed)



More significantly, it’s just  **too** **soon in[the narrative arc](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101121024682/the-johnlock-arc) for John to realize Sherlock has done all this _for him_.** He can’t know how much Sherlock loves him yet, or there’s nothing left to do for the rest of the show. There are six more episodes plus a special; they’ve got more miscommunication coming before they come together.


	2. Mary

When you first watch this scene, you focus on John and Sherlock because a) they’re the main characters and b) they’re the only one talking. But there’s something _really_ interesting going on if you watch Mary.

In the first half of the scene, John and Sherlock are arguing, and no one is much talking to Mary. She’s only on screen for a little bit, but every time, she looks completely blank. When John asks “Is everyone I’ve ever met a psychopath?” she even looks vaguely amused. (It’s definitely not the first time she’s been called a psychopath by someone close to her, but that’s [this amazing meta](http://ifyouhaveenoughnerve.tumblr.com/post/77363398901/penitence-paradox-and-psychopathy-why-mary-is-a-bit).) She’s not emotionally invested in the conversation at this point; we all know that. She doesn’t react at all when John kicks the chair. She’s just watching to see where this is going so she can agree with the winner.

This is when John references the baby:

(The longer I look at this picture, the creepier it gets. At first, not so bad; three minutes later, terrifying.)

The baby is a way she can easily manipulate John. I see this face as “How can I use you?” Mary’s still thinking she’s going to come out ahead in this argument, and frankly she’s just irritated she has to put up with it at all.

But it changes. This is Mary when John says “Your way, always your way.” Here she’s looking at John:

And then she glances to Sherlock:

Mary looks truly unhappy. She just realized that this conversation - _the most important conversation she’s ever had/going to have with her husband -_ is going to be set on Sherlock Holmes’s terms. Ouch.

John says, “Sit.” Mary says “Why?” I read this as “Why bother?” - either “Why bother when Sherlock’s controlling everything anyway” or “Why bother because the outcome of this conversation is already set.” Here’s Mary then:

She’s definitely unhappy.

Then John says, “Because that’s where they sit.” Here’s Mary:

This reads to me as a sort of horrified disbelief. _“Where is the wimpy pushover I married? I thought I knew you. You aren’t supposed to treat me like this.”_ And I’m not even being sarcastic. She’s hurt; this is disappointment. He’s not what she thought he was, what she wanted.

John tells her “That’s all you are now, Mary; you’re a client.” Watch her here:

She is really hurt by this. This is one of the biggest tells we get from her all season. She breaks eye contact with John and looks down. She sucks in a tiny breath and shifts backward. (You can see it in the video.)

And this is the big one. When John says “We decide if we want you or not,” this is what Mary looks like:

Wow. Ouch. She frankly looks like she wants to cry.

 _He wasn’t supposed to_ be _like that. Why is_ he _lik_ _e that?_

 _We_ know [the Watsons Have a Domestic scene is about John choosing Sherlock](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/97647901957/sherlock-and-john-in-the-watsons-have-a-domestic) over Mary - over anyone - even if subconsciously. He decides that whatever he ends up deciding about Mary, it’s him and Sherlock. **Mary realizes this, too.** I don’t think it completely sinks in that night, but pretty soon.

Here’s what I think: [When Mary showed up in CAM’s office and Sherlock turned up moments later, Mary realized Jim totally screwed her over and sold her out](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101775029347/mary-didnt-go-to-cams-office-to-kill-sherlock). I think she shot to kill because she realized she couldn’t trust Jim at all, so she wasn’t playing for Team Jim anymore. But when Sherlock lives and tells John about what she did, she can’t trust Sherlock and John, either. **So the** **first half of the conversation - when Sherlock and John are arguing and she shows no emotion - is her trying to figure out who’s going to win eventually - Sherlock/John or Jim - so she can side with that side.**

But then she finds out it doesn’t matter who’s going to win. Even if John forgives her, she’s not going to be able to match Sherlock in his life. This hurts. This is tough. She’s his wife, and she thought John was all kittens and jam and no rage.

So this is her realizing she _can’t_ play for Team Sherlock/John even if she thinks they’ll win over Team Jim because - as we all know - it’s not a team, it’s a partnership. John already has a partner, and it’s not her, and [now she knows it](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/97359159912/how-mary-feels-about-sherlock) in a pretty unequivocal way. **Whether or not John forgives her, Mary’s got to play for herself from here on out.** That doesn’t mean I think she doesn’t love John anymore or won’t try to keep him, but I think - very deep down - she knows it’s not going to work. Even if he stays with her forever, he’ll still belong to Sherlock, not her - because she thinks of love as ownership.

**Author's Note:**

> Transcribed from [my meta blog on tumblr](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/my-sherlock-meta). Much more there.


End file.
